Wednesday, January 26, 2011

52 Weeks To Better Genealogy - Home, describe the house you grew up in.

2105 W Lincoln (2007 Cook County Assessor Photo)

The house I grew up in was located at 2105 W. Lincoln in Mount Prospect, Illinois. It was not the first house we lived in but it was the home we had for the majority of my childhood. The house was a good size, brand new and in a new subdivision. The front hallway had a black slate floor and a fountain to the right of the front door. The home also had a sunken living room. The family room was open to the kitchen and had dark paneling throughout. The kitchen also had access to the dining room that overlooked the sunken living room. The home had three bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was one of two ranches built in our subdivision. Our family lived in the home from about 1969 to 1983 when my parents moved to Arizona.

My father built a deck onto the back of the house and installed a gas grill for barbecuing. Our yard was big with a large vegetable garden behind a big oak tree. None of the homes in the neighborhood had fences and we kids would meet up were the back yards met to play. One of the homes had a small vineyard of purple grapes that were wonderful for snacking on. There was a farm at the end of the block with horses and ponies that our great dane used to run away and visit. I think she thought she was similar to the ponies and enjoyed visiting with them. Dad tethered Taffy (the great dane) to the large Oak Tree with a tractor chain, Taffy frequently got loose by breaking her tie out chain. Once when she was loose she walked over to a neighbor and tried to take steaks off their grill, the guy was going to hand them over but his wife was screaming for him to save the meat. We just followed the screaming to locate the dog, Taffy was just a hoot.

608 S. Can-dota ( Cook County Assessor photo 2008)

The first home I remember living in was at 608 S. Can-dota in Mount Prospect. It was a three bedroom home not too far from Weller Creek which had a tendency to flood. We crossed a foot bridge over Weller Creek to get to the school I attended kindergarten and first grade. The downstairs had a built in bar, a sewing room, and a tool shop along with a bathroom with a skunk on the the toilet lid. I still remember the toilet because the skunk had a rhinestone eye and it always freaked me out a little. My bedroom had a chandelier that I would lay in bed and watch the light play off of.

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Amy Urman is a genealogical researcher, lecturer and private investigator. This blog is used to share pictures, memories, stories, recipes and anything family or genealogy related. She is the co-founder of the Pima County Genealogy Society - and society blogger at pimacountygenealogysociety.blogspot.com.